We are a family of five, living in a suburb of Washington, DC. Melissa is a kidney specialist, practicing in the local Northern Virginia area. Evan is an endocrinologist working at the US Food and Drug Administration.
Our main interests center around family life and the many activities of the children. Melissa is an avid gardener and has an enormous flower garden in front of the house. Evan always seems to have a home improvement project underway and has an endless assortment of power tools and other essentials of suburban life.
As a family, we love movies, games, travel, getting together with friends, and sometimes just being home together.
Scott is 14 years old and will be entering high school this year. Scott has an amazing understanding or how computers work and is, like all boys, a pro at video games. He has a nice group of friends who keep each other occupied, and he is looking forward to the challenges of high school.
Sharon is 12 years old. She has been studying dance for seven years now and seems always to be at one dance class or another. She will be entering middle school this year and is excited that so many of her friends will be going to the same school with her.
Rosy is 10 years old and will be in elementary school for two more years. She has been studying violin for several years now and has become quite facile with it. She also has a nice group of friends, including the children who live next door and look at her as ”the big sister”. Rosy loves to swim and enjoys going to the swim club in our town.
Due to the ages of the children, their care needs are quite simple. None of the children have any special physical, emotional, or developmental needs. Scott really needs no particular ”care,” with the exception of some meals prepared and transportation to various activities. Scott tends to be rather independent, and for the most part he sees to his own needs. He has a tremendous sense of humor and has enjoyed many goad laughs with the au pairs.
Sharon is also extremely independent and relies on the an pair for transportation and to have an adult in the house when parents are at work. She has been a faithful shopping companion with the au pairs and has been a good companion to the au pairs on outings. Because she is younger, Rosy needs more supervision. She loves to play games, watch movies, so swimming, and do other things with the au pairs. Her activities include dance and music lessons, and she too requires transportation to them. Of all of the children’s needs, transportation is one of the most important and the au pair should be very comfortable with driving the children to their various activities.
Our family has been very lucky to have had many experiences with other cultures. Melissa has studied French, Spanish and a bit of German and has lived in Germany in the past. Both Melissa and Evan maintain quite a number of European friendships, and we have enjoyed hosting the friends and family of our au pairs when they have visited the US. In addition, the Washington, DC area is a very international one, with countless cultural opportunities. There are many all pairs in the Washington area, and our au pairs typically have developed a large network of friends from many different countries.
Our home is a large one, perhaps enormous by European standards. We live in a suburb of Washington, DC, and have lived in the area for over 20 years. The house is a short distance from the nearest subway stop, with easy access to Washington.
Because we are outside the city, we have a pleasant property with a large flower garden in the front, and a large yard for play behind the house. The house itself has four finished levels, with Scott’s bedroom and a large sitting room on the top floor, four family bedrooms on the second floor, a main floor with plenty of room and a large screened porch for the warm weather, and the lower level with a huge playroom for the children with a large-screen television and surround sound system for movies. Also on this level is the bedroom for the au pair, with private bathroom attached.
The Washington, DC area is full of opportunities for many different types of experiences, with museums, concert venues, shopping of every imaginable type, ethnic foods and shops, and all of the things, which a large cosmopolitan area can offer. In summary, we wish to have an au pair join us who is interested in caring for older children, who would enjoy access to what Washington has to offer, and who would like to live and laugh with a very active and vital, truly American family. We hope that she will wish to share in all aspects of family life.
We have participated with Au Pair in America for many years now, and we have viewed it as a very positive experience, not only for us but also for the au pairs who have shared our home.